'How did I end up facing this monster again? I thought I'm done already…and what the heck is with that form!? It looks much stronger now!'
Zephyr being mysteriously quiet despite the situation due to his internal monologue has been interpreted as him focusing on what's to be done afterwards. Anastasia thinks that the next battle won't bother him too much, so he's already planning out the ending.
"Master Zep, before we begin. I want to ask for your knowledge. Should we…save that woman?" Anastasia's gaze turns towards Alice who seems to be not moving from her position from the very start. She's surrounded with rubbles and what's more, the Chimera seems to be guarding her with all of its might which makes her difficult to reach.
'Wait, that's the old lady that asked me to fetch her cat. Don't tell me…she's being controlled by this monster the whole time!?' As expected of Zephyr's genius. With that conclusion in mind, he turns to Anastasia with an answer.
"It's already obvious right, Ana? We save everyone that needs saving"
'My conscience won't let me sleep if I let someone perish in front of me, but…well that's if the saving part is doable. Though I think my guild members can save almost everyone.'
"I see…that's right." Anastasia displays a warm smile, something that she only did once when Zephyr saved her back in the day.
"That's so like you, Master Zep. Which is why–"
Numerous floating, spear-shaped dark ice spawned around the two.
"–I have dedicated my all to you."
Meanwhile, the party of King Crow and the others have safely evacuated the dungeon.
"Keh, I should have stayed and showed them that I can handle myself. However–"
"Master is telling the truth. Her fatal flaw is that she can't fight with a team that she has no familiarity with." Athy informed them.
"Miss Anastasia's spells are too destructive both for her allies and enemies. Only the members of [Grim Fate] are the ones that can efficiently sync up with her."
"What a shame though, I really would like to see how they fight. Though I already know the outcome." David lets out a sigh afterwards.
While the party shares what's in their mind, Meiren can be seen pouring a substance in the ground as if preparing for something. Noticing this, Erika can't help but to stick her nose.
"Meiren, what's that for? Don't tell me, it's a surveillance medium!?" Erika then chuckled.
"You guessed right." Meiren immediately responded.
"What-! I'm right, how rare!"
"Oh, didn't know you had something like that in your arsenal." David and others then gather around the certain substance in the ground.
"I only have one vial available since this is a very precious item. I thought this is the best chance to use it since we're all curious here. The liquid here will reflect the happenings inside the dungeon in real time, so we will be able to watch even from the outside."
As the last drop hits the ground, the substance hardens and turns itself into a mirror which is currently showing the current situation inside the dungeon.
|Hollow Cavern|
The spears of dark ice begin to rapidly move towards the Chimera's position, however, the monster becomes more agile than ever despite having put on armor, swiftly managing to evade all the attacks Anastasia hurls. To add, the erected stone pillars are being used by the Chimera as a platform to quickly change positions and maintain its high ground advantage towards the two.
"It's a smart monster. This one is definitely of Prism rank, already close to an Abyssal."
Anastasia commented as she raised her obsidian hands once again, pointing it towards the monster. But then, the Chimera retracts quicker as its tail spews out a fast moving acidic liquid towards them by which Anastasia blocked by erecting a wall of Obsidian.
'I don't feel like I belong here.'
Zephyr hasn't done anything yet as he thinks that Ana should be enough to shut the monster down though it's proving to be quite difficult even for someone like her.
"Your speed is getting tiresome. Those agile feet of yours, I'll take it."
With those cold words of hers, Anastasia weaves a mid tier cursed spell in just a matter of seconds.
As Anastasia touches the ground, it freezes and quickly spreads to the base of the pillar where the Chimera is currently standing, ultimately encasing it in dark ice. Though the Chimera swiftly jumped to another pillar, the spread of the freezing plague did not stop and targeted all the other pillars.
"Now, fall."
The dark ice ultimately shattered all the pillars that the Chimera raised, denying the monster one advantage it possessed. The Chimera on the other hand landed just beside Alice and began to run rampant across the open field, now using the walls of the cavern as its platform for its flash steps.
"This time you're finished–"
Anastasia takes a quick glance at the unmoving Alice. She then erected a wall of dark ice in front of her to protect Alice from the next cursed spell she's about to unleash.
"Master Zep, I'll be using it."
'Master Zep is the first person who has reached out and was not afraid of the curse that I bear. This next curse might affect everyone here, but Master Zep is immune to my curse as if we are destined to be the perfect duo.' Zephyr trivia #3: He was granted immunity from Anastasia's curses after he somehow "saved" her in the past.
Zephyr on the other hand just looks at her with a nervous smile that could be interpreted from the outside as being carefree. 'What spell?' he thought to himself. As soon as he saw a hint of blinding light from Anastasia's obsidian hands, he immediately realized the curse she's going to use.
"That's…Ana's trump card!"
Anastasia nods in response.
'The monster may be smart, but it does not have anything to protect itself from the light due to its huge body.'
"Find chilling darkness in this blinding light–"
The Chimera suddenly changed its pace and in a brisk manner, lunged towards the chanting Anastasia whilst opening its mouth, closing their distance in a blink of an eye.
Step- CLANG!!
Seeing that Anastasia is vulnerable and was about to be chomped, Zephyr, who has been protective of his friends despite being "regular", doesn't think twice and stands between Anastasia and the Chimera while making a determined expression. As if hitting an invisible wall of force, the Chimera bounced back after its lunge due to the physical protection relic Zephyr has. 'H-HIIIK! IT'S TOO SCARY IN CLOSE UP!'
"....."
"Master Zep…you're always there for me. I am very thankful that I get to meet you." As she wipes a bit of tears in her eyes, Anastasia finishes her curse.
The blinding light then envelopes the whole dungeon.
"Gaaah! What the– what's that light!" David inquired as he covered his eyes.
"I don't know! But I heard Lord Zephyr calls it Mistress Anastasia's trump card!" Meiren commented.
"So that means, it's the end? Looks like she can take it on without {Fate Threader}'s assistance." ← King Crow
As the light slowly dissipates, Anastasia, along with the party watching the battle, was shocked by something.
"Hey, hey…what's the effect of that light supposed to be by the way…?" ← David
"I don't know…I can't say, after all–"
ROOOOOAAAAR!!!
Anastasia's eyes widened after witnessing that the Chimera…has covered its entire body with sturdy iron it generated from the dungeon, escaping the effects of petrification. The armor then collapses, leaving the Chimera bare once again, but then–
Anastasia lets out a brief sigh.
'I can't do more of that curse…I have already done it twice today already. If I just push on and keep using curses…my body wouldn't be able to keep up.' Anastasia almost looks distraught, as if she's being punished. After all, she thinks that she had disappointed Zephyr with this performance. She slowly looks at Zephyr with narrowed eyes, seemingly ready to cry.
"Master Zep…I'm sorry…after all that talk of my–"
"It's fine Ana."
Zephyr gently patted Anastasia's head. Seeing Anastasia almost weep is something Zephyr doesn't want to witness. He's fine with her being doll-like and somewhat cold, but he definitely doesn't want to see her cry. And moreover, because of him.
"Haha…I can't even think how much work you've put in today. You deserve a reward once we return."
Anastasia tightly grips Zephyr's sleeves, hiding her face in the process.
'Man, she's definitely crying now. Ana…I'm sorry to put you through this. Guess I better man up…do or die then.'
With a last gentle pat in the head, Zephyr steps forward and taunts the Chimera to come and get him.
"Come then, I'll give you your desired rematch."